Wandering Dogs

Owner Responsibilities

As a dog owner, you have a responsibility to keep your dog contained inside your property which means you need to have fencing that your dog can’t jump over, dig under, push over or get through. If you don’t have fencing, your dog must either be kept inside an enclosed space or chained to a fixed point or dog run.

It is against the law for dogs to wander the streets as they can cause vehicle accidents, damage to property and intimidate the public.

If a dog is found “at large” and seized by Council, your dog may be taken to Council’s animal holding facility and you could attract a $330 penalty notice (fine) plus any pound fees.

Community Responsibilities

If you happen to find a stray dog either walking the streets or at your property and take the dog into your custody, you have a responsibility to either return it to its owner (if you know who the owner is), contact Council or take it to an animal holding facility such as a vet.

By law, a member of the community can only hold a stray dog for a maximum of 48 hours.

Council requests that if you do happen to find a dog and wish for Council to pick it up that you have the dog contained, either by leash or in an enclosed space.

If you see an aggressive dog, do not approach it – contact Council straight away so a trained Animal Controller may seize the dog.

Council can only pick up dogs during business hours. If you find a stray dog outside business hours, you can either keep it overnight or take it to an animal holding facility, such as a vet.

Council’s Responsibilities

When stray dogs are seized, Council will do their best to reunite it with its owner.

If the dog is microchipped the owner will be contacted and if the owner is available, the dog will be returned home.

If the dog is not microchipped, it will be taken to Council’s animal holding facility and held for a period of 7 days. Microchipped dogs are held at the pound for 14 days.